Intense autumn Start:up TOUR

In the autumn cycle of the Start:up Maribor programme, we will choose at least five startups that will get the intense month-long support package within the so-called Start:up Tour, taking place from 25 October to 25 November 2015.

Who can participate?

The programme Start:up TOUR is meant for all innovative individuals or teams that wish to establish a new company (can also be a spin-off or spin-out of an already existing organization) or startup companies that are not older than 3 years at the time of application, have a business, i.e. products and services, based on their own knowledge and potential, and have big marketing potential and ambition for growth.

The condition for participating in the Start:up Maribor TOUR is an officially submitted application of the company through the application system, regulatedintellectual property status and, at the very least, participation at the Start:up weekend, including the DEMO evening.

Free working space in startup coworking

Participants of the Start:up Tour will be able to benefit from free working spots within coworking spaces of Venture Factory – business incubator of the University of Maribor, and business facilities of company VEČER, with all the necessary communications infrastructure in the form of office spaces, office materials and storage space.

Startup companies can also use the boardroom and multimedia classroom in Venture Factory for free.

Free use of Venture Factory facilities can extend for another 5 months with suitable development of the startup company. Startup companies can also try to get a partnership with company VEČER, which offers facilities with all the necessary infrastructure.

More than 50 hours of mentorship support

Startup companies that are part of the Start:up Maribor Tour programme get at least 50 hours of free advisory sessions or free work of experienced mentors from various areas important for startup development.

Mentors can help in the following areas:

Development and validation of the business model,

Product development,

Building and leading a team,

Design and user experience,

Marketing and sales,

Growth strategy and growth hacking,

Access to capital,

Legal, financial and fiscal aspects of business,

Intellectual property protection and

Processes organization.

If we can't find a mentor suited to the needs of the startup company on the list of Start:up Maribor mentors, we will try to find and engage the most suitable one together with the company.

PODIM ticket

International entrepreneurship PODIM conference is one of the largest conferences in the Alps-Adriatic region and the leading Slovenian conference on entrepreneurship. Each year (in 2015, it took place for the 35th time in a row) it joins all key stakeholders of the regional start-up entrepreneurship ecosystem in a two-day-long intense educational programme. In 2014, more than 644 people from 21 countries attended the conference – not only from Slovenia but also from Austria, Italy, Poland, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Germany, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, USA, Great Britain, Malaysia, India, Netherlands, Portugal, Israel and Oman.

The conference features well-known guests from Slovenia and abroad who present the latest knowledge on building new startup companies through a series of roundtables, lectures and workshops.

An attractive catalogue with descriptions of 60 startups from the Alps-Adriatic region was also created and given to the 39 globally known investors who attended the PODIM conference The conference didn’t only connect startups with investors but also connected established companies with startups.

Continuous consulting support

General manager of the Venture Factory university incubator. He helps newly founded companies with his rich business experience. He knows the answers to most questions and challenges you face as a startup. An expert of the support environment and European tenders.

Damjan Obal,
Edgar

Designer of user experiences in virtual and real worlds. Form always follows function. Aesthete. Optimist. Expert. Enthusiast. Doctor of science. Starting projects with youthful mischievousness and concluding them with surgical precision. Consumed all books and articles from the field of UX design, so he's the right person to talk to about this.

Aljoša Huber,
Intelplan

Experienced SME entrepreneur whose passion and life mission are to help companies in sales, marketing, business processes and introducing ideas to the market. Practical- and goal-oriented. Systemisation and optimisation built into his DNA. MA in international economics. Recipient of high awards from the field of product, service and business model innovation. At home and abroad.

What if the mentor you want isn't on the list?

If you know a quality mentor who isn't on the list of mentors, you can suggest them to us and we'll try to engage them to help your startup company. Write to us at info@startupmaribor.si with your suggestion.